I began noticing Erborian Paris-Seoul Korean Skin Care Therapy both at Sephora, and numerous Parisian beauty stores a few years ago . According to Erborian, According to the line, its laboratory in Seoul formulates gentle, effective skincare that are based on Asian beauty rituals.

Erborian continuously innovates by offering surprising, unprecedented, ground-breaking products, vehicles for “intelligent beauty”. Our exclusive formulas, developed by our laboratory based in Seoul, use the most advanced technologies, at the cutting edge of the cosmetic industry. These intriguing formulas rapidly deliver active ingredients, for ultimate benefits. Erborian combines the most sophisticated technologies with high-quality ingredients derived from Korean herbs, to create innovative and exclusive formulas that reveal luminosity, radiance and younger-looking skin. Inspired by ancient Korean traditions, Korean herbs have a dual advantage: they are incredibly effective as they are exceedingly pure, but they are also very gentle and very well tolerated.

I stopped by the Erborian Parisian Boutique on the Avenue de L’Opera just near the Opera Garnier. This line is based on three fundamental premises: Detox, Boost and Finish…Because Erborian’s offerings at many local US stores are rather small in size, I took numerous photographs in the boutique so that you can get a better sense of their full range of products.

For the past several days, I’ve been using the new Giorgio Armani Beauty Luminessence CC Cream (available at Neiman Marcus,Nordstrom, Barneys and Saks)($50/ 1 oz.). This series, just released in eight (8) shades, provides glowing and moisturizing medium-to-light coverage.

According to Armani, there are skin care benefits in the formula:

A good night sleep in a cream. Luminessence CC Cream is a color control bright moisturizer with SPF 35. It features a triple technology on skincare for its energizing and antioxidant complex, color for its pinky “rose glow” pigments and light for its liquid mirror technology. Apply once and the skin looks as rested as a good night’s sleep.

According to the product insert, the point of this product is to use 1) the product’s color to correct and even skin tone, 2) the formula to deliver moisture, antioxidants and sunscreen protection, and 3) luminzers to impart a soft glow. Essentially, the coverage is medium toward light with one pass (and buildable on problem areas). You can trust that Armani knows how to create a buildable foundation. In my opinion, the line is one of the best at developing formulas that can be layered and this Armani Luminessence CC Creamis no exception.The product comes in an easily packable squeeze tube.

I used this product as my foundation, although it could be used as a color-correcting, moisturizing base. Those who want more coverage might consider using a powder foundation over this formula to increase both the coverage and overall wear time. On application, you will immediately notice a dewy glow. I powder down my forehead right away with a finishing powder. The overall effect is youthful. Here’s a quick swatch on a portion of my arm that shows you the dewiness in very bright sun. I think you can see that it creates a pretty satin sheen without any sparkle:

Armani Luminessence CC Creamis genius at delivering all-day moisture. I’m not sure of the magic that Armani puts in the formula, but my skin looked young, moisturized, and perfected. With a touch of layering, the product evens out my dark patches and small acne scars to invisibility. The enclosed literature suggests that it’s nice to put a little more around any areas that you want to photoshop–the labial folds, for example. The effect makes me look rested, younger, and my skin looks moisturized and softer.

As with many moisturizing formulas, Armani Luminessence CC Creamis not a true long-wear formula. After about the eighth or ninth hour, I started to notice some imperfections peeking through. Fortunately, this can be easily refreshed with a concealer (Armani’s Maestro Concealeris wonderful, but any will do).

What was surprising is how good my skin felt after removal. There are a few CC Creams that deliver is in the skincare department, and Armani is one of the top of the list. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised–bathing my skin all day in Armani sounds luxurious and it is. It’s lovely to see a company deliver on the technology that has been promised. Armani is not kidding around. If this product is meant to get customer’s interested in Armani’s skin care range, it is working (at least for me).

The Nordstrom sales associate that I worked with matched me to Shade #4 which is a bit darker than my usual. As we are heading toward spring and summer (really, I promise!), and my arms typically pick up some color during that season, I didn’t fight back very hard. For the record, during the makeover we used a highlighter on my upper cheek and it was not too much. That’s the thing about lines like Armani–they are never too much. Packaging (click to enlarge:

And more of the ingredient list (click to enlarge):

Overall, Giorgio Armani Luminessence CC Control Bright Moisturizer successfully delivers on its mission to deliver skin that looks awake and alive. I love that it has a decent SPF level, and the moisturizer seems extraordinarily effective. The color corrective properties provide both medium-to- light coverage and mask color variations well. No breakouts or clogging pores. This is designed to works best on skin that benefits from a moisturizing formula, although my combination skin loved it. I needed a powder-down and concealer refresh after about the eight-hour mark, although your own mileage may vary. So far, one of the best–I’m loving this one.

This is a first look at the Chanel CC Cream ($55/ 1.0 oz.), which has just become available to certain Chanel boutiques across the U.S. This will soon be available where ever Chanel is sold. Although this has been released internationally for some months, this is the first tube that I’ve seen in person. I was so excited to experience this product, so I thought that I can’t be the only one. I’m posting this quick overview of pictures so that you can see it with me.

I asked the Chanel cosmetic specialist, who was in the boutique for the weekend, whether the product had any color-reducing properties (for example, the Smashbox CC Cream advertises that it will help fade acne scars and discolorations). In other words–does this product correct permanently with skincare ingredients, or does it “correct” by covering up? The Chanel representative said that this product is not advertised to actually correct discolorations permanently, but that it could be used with the Chanel Le Blanc line (which is designed for those purposes).

I hope you enjoyed this first look. I’ll post again in a few days once I’ve had more of a chance to test this out.

Available with free ship and return at Nordstrom.com, and other Chanel sources.